Enoch Light (and His Orchestra; and the Light Brigade; and the Enoch Light Singers)

Light was one of the first musicians to go to extreme lengths to create high-quality recordings that took full advantage of the technical capabilities of home audio equipment of the
late 1950s and early 60s, particularly stereo effects that bounced the sounds between the right and left channels, which had huge influence on the whole concept of multi-track
recording that would become commonplace in the ensuing years. Doing so, he arranged his musicians in ways to produce the kinds of recorded sounds he wished to achieve,
even completely isolating various groups of them from each other in the recording studio. The first of the albums produced on his record label, Command Records,
Persuasive Percussion, became one of the first big-hit LP discs based solely on retail sales. His music received little or no airplay on the radio, because AM radio,
the standard of the day, was monaural and had very poor fidelity. Light went on to release several albums in the Persuasive Percussion series, as well as a Command test record.

The album covers were generally designed with abstract, minimalist artwork that stood out boldly from other album covers. These pieces were usually the work of Josef Albers.
Light was so interested in the sound of his music that he would include lengthy prose describing each song's sounds. In order to fit all of his descriptions on to the album sleeve,
he doubled the size of the sleeve but enabled it to fold like a book, thus popularizing the gatefold packaging format. The gatefold sleeve became extremely popular in later decades,
and was used on albums such as The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Enoch Light released myriad albums in various genres of music under a variety of names during the late 1950s and early 60s. Some were released under Grand Award Records, a
subsidiary label he founded earlier. The music was intended for older audiences, presumably because he saw them as more-serious audiophiles who had more money to spend on high end
stereo equipment, as opposed to most popular music of the time, which was generally intended for teenagers and young adults. During this time, he pioneered many recording techniques
such as the use of 35 mm magnetic film instead of magnetic tape, thereby reducing the effects of "wow" and "flutter". The recordings were released under the "35MM" series, starting
from Stereo 35-MM released by Command Records. Musicians who appeared on Light's albums include The Free Design, The Critters, Rain, Doc Severinsen, Tony Mottola, Dick Hyman,
organist Virgil Fox. As an arranger, Lew Davies was one of the label's most important contributors.

In 1965, Light sold the Command record label, which had released the Persuasive Percussion series, to ABC Records, which itself was subsequently sold to MCA Records. After the sale,
the quality of those records plummeted dramatically. The signature gatefold format was immediately discontinued, and the covers changed to budget labels pressed on recycled vinyl.
In 1975 they were completely discontinued.

After the sale of Command Records, Light launched a new label called Project 3 and continued recording, but did not concentrate so heavily on stereo effects.
Light recorded several successful big band albums with an ace-group of New York studio musicians, many of whom were veterans of the greatest bands of the Swing Era who were still
regularly working in New York's television and recording studios. Released as Enoch Light And The Light Brigade, the arrangements used on the recordings were transcribed note-for-note
from some of what were the hallmark recordings by many of the best bands of the swing era. The arranging reconstructions of these now "classic" arrangements were completely
reconstructed by arrangers Dick Lieb, Dick Hyman, Tony Mottola and Jeff Hest. Many of the musicians employed for this series of "recreations" had been members of the original
bands that made the original records decades earlier. This veritable "Who's Who" of "swing era" veteran musicians included saxophonists Phil Bodner, Walt Levinsky,
Ray Beckenstein, Gerald Sanfino, Al Klink, Boomie Richman, Romeo Penque, and Sol Schlinger; trumpeters Mel Davis, Rusty Dedrick, Johnny Frosk, Bernie Glow, Joe Graves,
Markie Markowicz, Bob McCoy, and Marvin Stamm; trombonists Wayne Andre, Paul Fralise, Urbie Green, Lou McGarity, Buddy Morrow, and Santo Russo; guitarist Tony Mottola,
bassists Bob Haggart and George Duvivier, drummers Don Lamond, Bob Rosengarden and Ronnie Zito, pianists Dick Hyman and Derek Smith and vibraharpist Phil Kraus.